As summer approaches rapidly, and the season of wearing shorts, skirts, and t-shirts knocks on the door we begin to realize that a hairy little monster lives underneath the layers of winter clothes. In a modern culture, there is almost a cult of smooth, hairless skin and this doesn’t appeal only to women; increasing number of men shows interest for removing body hair. The times when body hair removal was considered “a woman thing” is long gone. Men and women decide to undertake this cosmetic procedure for many reasons, but the majority is primarily concerned with aesthetics and hygiene.
You probably already have some sort of the body hair removal routine, but did you ever explore other options? You would be immensely surprised to discover that changing your regular way of getting smooth hairless skin can do wonders and facilitate the removal. This article will present good and bad sides of 3 best ways to remove body hair
Waxing
It is often said that waxing is one of the best ways for removing unwanted body hair. But is this really the case? Let us first discuss what is understood by waxing and what waxing types exist. The basic mechanism behind waxing is following: Firstly, applying a certain type of the wax to the skin. Then after the hair is stuck, with a strong motion wax is being ripped off and the hair is semi-permanently removed from the root. One of the requirements to have a successful waxing is having your hair at least 1cm long because this way wax can be applied thoroughly.
There are two basic styles of waxing, and the difference is based on the type of wax used. There is waxing with hard wax and waxing with soft wax. Hard wax is mostly used on smaller body areas, such as armpits, nose, ears, face and sometimes an intimate zone. Once applied, the wax becomes stiff and hardened and then you can remove it from the skin along with the hairs. Some people claim that hard waxing is less painful for them because hard wax during cooling stage picks up hairs and skin isn’t pulled afterward.
Soft wax involves strip in removing hair process. The procedure is similar: a layer of soft wax is applied and then quickly removed from the skin with the stripes. There are three different forms of soft wax: cold soft wax, heated soft wax, and pre-made soft wax stripes.
Biggest problems with waxing are durability and possible skin damage. After waxing, skin is hairless from 3 to 6 weeks, and sometimes even shorter depending on the individual’s body hair type and other physiological characteristics. Also, when hair is being pulled from the root, if you have a sensitive skin, damages and burns can occur. It is no rare case that waxing can cause acne on the skin. However, if you don’t have sensitive skin and you are ok with limited waxing effects, this is a good option for having smooth skin.
Shaving
This is probably the most common type of hair removal in the world, for both men and women. When shaving, we are removing the hair to the skin level or otherwise by using different types of razors. You can shave any reachable part of the body, but in the majority of cases, women use razors to remove hair from the leg and under the arm, while men remove beards or mustaches. There are different types of the razors: disposable razors, cartridge razors, and electric razors. First two options require a use of shaving cream and water. Disposable razors are low-quality razors intended for single use. Cartridge razors, depending on the type and number of blades, can range from low to high quality. Without a doubt, when it comes to daily removal of facial hair, there’s no better option than an electric razor for men (see here the top razors for 2017).
What makes shaving with electric razors the best option? Mostly the fact that you can use them on the go. This literally means you can shave in the car on your way to the job if you are in the hurry because you don’t need water or shaving cream. In addition, in a long-term aspect, they are the budget option since you don’t have to change them as often.
Possible complications with shaving mainly consist of skin irritation. If you have sensitive skin, you need to choose your razor wisely. But if you are looking the fastest and most comfortable, painless, way to get rid of the hair, don’t think twice and buy yourself a quality shaver.
Laser
Laser hair removal became very popular in themid-1990s after twenty years of being tested in research facilities. This popularity arose because in the majority of cases the effects of laser hair removal will last longest and therefore they can be deemed as truly permanent. Laser make targeted area hairless without damaging surrounding skin in any way. Safety of removing body hair applying laser technique has been confirmed many times in various medical studies.
The primary principle involves the use of special laser who damage hair follicle permanently in the root. This happens after series of treatment because hair possesses the quality of absorbing the laser light and thus gets destructed in the sequences of the growth cycle. Getting prepared for laser hair removal is different when compared with other hair removal techniques and it requires following certain rules. Six weeks prior to laser treatment, you should quit waxing, tweezing or plucking the hair. In addition, you should avoid direct sunlight to the areas you would like to treat six weeks prior. Before appointment, you need to shave preferred areas thoroughly, and after the treatment, you have to avoid sunlight again for another six weeks.
The procedure itself isn’t extremely painful, however, you may experience slight discomfort. Afterward, depending again on your skin characteristics, it may look like it’s sunburned. In the following period, you will begin to notice hair falling out and decreased number of new hairs growing.
This technique is great if you are interested in long-term solutions for effective hair removal. However, you should be aware that it takes time and it’s quite dependant on the hair type. People with thick hair usually will have better results than people with weak and light body hair.
Bottom Line
Each of these above-mentioned techniques has its own advantages and shortcomings. If you choose to wax, pain is the unavoidable scenario, but if you make waxing your regular routine in times your hair will grow sparser and weaker and the pain will decrease accordingly. Laser hair removal is another great option but it requires time and preparation before and after the treatment. Shaving is understandably one of the most favorite options because it gives you great results in the shortest time span and it’s completely safe and painless. So, whatever you choose among these, it will be effective, it only depends on how long and how long are you willing to wait to see the results.
